


Heartbeat

by trashofthethings



Category: Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, donny and julia are married, emotional fluff though, post-musical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-03 23:19:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12156852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashofthethings/pseuds/trashofthethings
Summary: In which Donny and Julia move into their new house, and Julia realizes the importance of a heartbeat.





	Heartbeat

The car ride felt like an eternity of watching the at first beautiful but soon monotonous scenery of Pennsylvania and New York State in autumn fly by through a window. Crimsons, rusts, golds, and the road below blurred together beyond the glass as the bleary eyes of Donny and Julia Novitski watched the hues pass by. Sitting for the trip left the newlyweds with weak legs and a need to stretch the second they arrived at their destination, and the unpacking that followed was long and grueling. Donny insisted that Julia didn't have to help, but Julia insisted that she did, and by the end of the day, both were exhausted. But now, at long last, it was done. Donny and Julia took a moment to breathe and process everything for the first time all day.

It was unfurnished and littered with labeled cardboard boxes, but this was their new home.

An estate that might be considered modest for such a successful couple, the house stood some miles outside of New York City and was big enough for entertaining plenty of guests but not so big that it would feel empty with just the two of them. Donny and Julia stood in the foyer in each other’s arms, Julia resting her head on Donny’s chest, looking at the space in front of them. It was all boxes now, but they could imagine what each empty room would be. The area to the left would be the living room, with plush couches and a nice wooden table for the record player to sit on. The area just ahead of that and to the right was the kitchen, where Julia would bake a cake for church and Donny would probably playfully get in the way. It was exciting and joyful and even nerve-wracking all at once, but mostly, in that moment in each other’s arms, Donny and Julia were content. They were quiet, too, until Donny broke the silence.

“Welcome home,” he said simply, but it hung in the air and resonated in the high-ceilinged hallway. It meant so much more than just moving into a new house.

It was not until that moment that Donny and Julia individually realized how long it had been since either felt they truly had a home. It’d been a long, long time for both.

However, nowhere could truly be the home of Donny and Julia without one essential thing: music. The record player, unsurprisingly, was the very first thing unboxed, followed by a favorite Glenn Miller record from ‘39- A-side “Sunrise Serenade” and B-side “Moonlight Serenade”.

As the first couple of chords of Sunrise Serenade transitioned into the slow, sweet melody, Donny took Julia by the hand and pulled her into a close dancing position. She laughed and rolled her eyes, but followed him all the same. Delirious but happy, the couple sleepily spun around their new living room, bright smiles lighting their faces. Neither took for granted the pure, simple, and all-too-rare joy. By the time they flipped the record over to Moonlight Serenade, Donny and Julia had taken to swaying together in one spot. The familiar sound of the clarinets, saxophones, and muted trumpets swelled and quieted in the lilting, expressive tune. Donny began to softly sing the words at the second verse.

_“The stars are aglow, and tonight how their light sets me dreaming_

_My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?_

_I bring you and sing you a moonlight serenade”_

Her head on his chest, Julia could feel the vibration of his low voice.

Whether it was the lyrics, the music itself, or both, Moonlight Serenade was the kind of song that always made a person feel _something_ , even if they didn’t know why or what that feeling was.

Julia found herself caught up in an emotion so specific she couldn’t quite identify it. Not quite nostalgia, not quite sorrow, not quite wistfulness, but a little bit of all three. She swayed in Donny’s arms and closed her eyes. It wasn’t until then, her head nestled in the space below his chin, her ear on his chest, that Julia realized what was kicking up the emotions in her.

It was his heartbeat.

His heartbeat- a rhythm that meant Donny was there and Julia had someone to love.

By the time the song ended, Julia had tears in her eyes.

Donny and Julia continued to rock back and forth in each other’s embrace even after the music ended. Julia found she didn’t want to move her ear from that heartbeat, as if not being able to hear it herself would somehow make it stop. Eventually, though, they pulled away from each other. Upon seeing the tears glistening in Julia’s eyes, Donny’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in gentle concern.

“Julia, you okay?” he asked. She nodded, offering a watery but genuine smile.

“Yes, Donny,” Julia said through a tearful voice. “Yes, I’m fine.” It was both a wholehearted truth and a massive lie.

 

  
It was sometime in the earliest hours of the morning, long before daybreak. The bedroom was dark and empty, save for a lamp on the floor and Donny and Julia lying in the bed. Julia, snuggled up against his side, looked up at Donny’s face and watched him sleep. His features lost the years the war had added. Seeing him like this was one of the only times when Julia could believe he was just barely thirty years old.

Suddenly, she found tears welling up in her eyes, just like earlier that night. Maybe it was because Donny was actually asleep, and not only that, but sleeping soundly- he was not twitching, he was not murmuring, his features were not contorted with distress. It was a scarce moment of peace in his tumultuous mind, and Julia’s relief and elation was enough to move her to tears. But, no, it was more than that.

Julia’s ear again picked up Donny’s heartbeat. Her hand lay on his chest and rose and fell with his rhythmic breathing. It meant that someone was here lying next to her, someone real, someone she could physically touch. It meant that Donny Novitski crawled out of Hell itself, and it led him here, of all places- next to Julia, next to his wife.

But that was skirting around what functional lungs and a heartbeat meant. The simple, hard truth was it meant Donny was _alive._ Perhaps that fact wouldn’t have struck a chord with most people, but it meant everything to Julia.

She had forgotten how much she missed sleeping next to a heartbeat. And maybe Donny’s heartbeat was different from the one she used to wake to, but Julia loved it just as much.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my oneshot! As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated! Writers don't live on oxygen, they live on feedback.
> 
> This fic was written in the wake of Bandstand's closing. I had the privilege of attending the final performance of this show, which I have become more attached to than I ever have to any other musical. It was quite a day, and it left me scrambling to pick of the pieces of myself in the following days. I wrote this in an attempt to help myself move on. Writing a continuation of Donny and Julia's story keeps it alive for me, in a way.
> 
> I wanna say a little about the songs I had Donny and Julia dance to because I love swing music with every ounce of my being and I spent a while picking a song. In the end it came down to a tune called All the Things You Are (one of my favorites) and Moonlight Serenade, the latter of which I obviously chose. I found out the A side of Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade record was Sunrise Serenade, another song I really like, so I added that in too (I suggest giving all three songs a listen). Out of the two songs in this fic, Moonlight Serenade is more popular, and you've probably heard the version I used here (Glenn Miller's, as I mentioned before). Since Miller's recording is instrumental and probably the most popular version, a lot of people don't know the song has words. But it does, and they're beautiful! You could listen to Frank Sinatra's recording, but I prefer Ella Fitzgerald's (Donny probably would too, haha). 
> 
> Fun Fact about Moonlight Serenade: It was released as a V-Disc, which were records that were recorded by popular singers & groups just for soldiers to have & play while overseas. They were made just to make soldiers feel happy and to give them something special & new to listen to. Because of that, Donny might have already been very familiar with the song. This fic focused on Julia, but maybe the song holds some kind of meaning for Donny. Again, I thought song choice out more than I had to. 
> 
> No one asked for a lecture on swing music, but I am a firm advocate for jazz education and awareness, so you got one. You can say you learned something new today, at least, haha. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who reads my work, you guys are the real MVPs :)


End file.
